Supporting local: Grant County Tourism Commission works to bring visitors while supporting area businesses

EPHRATA — Grant County has a lot to offer travelers, whether they’re passing through or coming for a show at The Gorge Amphitheatre or maybe spending a weekend at a bed and breakfast by the Columbia River — but it takes work to get the word out about the attractions in the county. That’s what the Grant County Tourism Commission is for though.

“Fundamentally, when you break it down, we utilize funding from LTAC, which is the Lodging Tax Advisory (Committee), and we take the revenue generated from tourism — all the people that travel to our county and spend money staying in hotels and campgrounds and RV sites — and we use that to promote the entire county,” said Tourism Commission Chair Amanda Laramore. 

The commission does that in a variety of ways such as advertising, leveraging its social media channels and purchasing advertising via traditional media outlets such as newspapers, radio stations, online venues and other sources. They even have a spot that appears during broadcasts of Mariners games to draw visitors to the county.

The hope, Laramore said, is that they come, they spend money supporting local businesses, they have a good time and the local economy benefits. 

By drawing people in for events such as the Grant County Fair, currently ongoing holiday festivities, car shows, hunting, fishing tournaments and other events, there’s a domino effect that helps local hotels, motels, restaurants and other businesses out. The visitors spend money at those locations, helping maintain the bottom line for mom-and-pop establishments and others, Laramore said. It’s all about working together, especially given the rural nature of the county makes it so that the area has a lot of smaller events that combine to attract visitors, rather than a singular draw such as a theme park. 

“Grant County is big, in the grand scheme of things, and those towns are small and spread out,” she said. 

However, that doesn’t mean that Grant County lost the tourism battle before it began. Instead, it means that those promoting the county find synergy between the various smaller attractions throughout the county.

“Moses (Lake) is really known for their aquatic center, but that’s not the only reason to come to Moses Lake. We have the sand dunes. We have all the agricultural farms out in the area that are doing things. The farmers market brings in so many people from outside of town,” Laramore said.

Finding synergy among each town’s events and attractions and those of the other towns in the county is key, she said. Someone might come to Moses Lake to hit the water slides, but they may also go to Ephrata to hike Beezley Hill, visit a winery in Quincy or go fishing near Coulee City. It’s all a matter of making sure visitors know what’s out there. 

To that effort, the Grant County Tourism Commission is made up of nine people from three districts. Each brings a skillset and knowledge base to the table and county staff like Deputy Clerk of the Board for Grant County Jerry Gingrich help out. Former commission member Rachelle Baughman of Coulee Creative also helps out by managing various outreach aspects for the commission as well.

Shawn Cardwell serves as vice chair, but she’s also the director of Columbia Basin Allied Arts and works with a variety of arts organizations to support live entertainment in Grant County, as one example. 

City of Moses Lake Communications and Marketing Specialist Lynne Lynch is a commissioner as well. She brings area knowledge both as a staff member for the city and a longtime resident.

David McWalter, a ranger who works at the Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park is the most recently appointed member of the board and brings years of experience promoting the county’s natural beauty to the mix. 

“In the spring I’ll be with (Washington State Parks) for 25 years as a ranger,” McWalter said during last week’s commission meeting – his first as a commissioner. 

McWalter said he gets about 200 visitors a day in early December and more in the summer and he regularly directs people to various places such as other state parks in the county. 

The commission works to promote the county in any way they can, and their assistance is generally free, Laramore said. It's all funded via LTAC — or grants if they can be found - and residents and business owners are encouraged to speak with their commissioner to see what help might be available.

For her part, Laramore has two hotels she’s responsible for. One in Moses Lake and one in Yakima. She said she enjoys the work she does with the commission to promote the county.

“It’s been an experience. I enjoy every minute of it and I’ve got to meet a lot of interesting people,” she said.

R. Hans “Rob” Miller may be reached at editor@columbiabasinherald.com.

Disclosure: The Columbia Basin Herald was recently awarded a contract with Grant County to produce the Grant County Travel Planner, an annual publication utilized by the Grant County Tourism Commission to educate visitors regarding the recreation options available locally.

Grant County Tourism Commissioners

District 1

Shawn Cardwell, vice chair
Linda Bonneville
David McWalter

District 2

Amanda Laramore, chair
Lynne Lynch
Arin Swinger

District 3

Sandra Marcusen
Susan Parker
Charles Jenkins

    The view from the visitors center at Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park a ways north of Soap Lake. The most recently appointed member of the Grant County Tourism Commission is David McWalter, a longtime resident of the area and an interpretive ranger at the park.
  

    Grand Coulee Dam is not only a historic site, it's also a draw for tourism. The structure is one of the largest dams in the United States, it's also home to a museum, laser light shows and amazing views. This historic photo was taken during the dam's construction.